Meet Canvas Commons

Commons is a learning object repository (LOR) that enables educators to find, import, and share learning resources in their Canvas courses. Commons gives you a way to collaborate with colleagues, share course design elements, explore new instructional ideas, and even iterate your own course design.

Commons Overview

What's in Commons?

You can find and share these course elements in Canvas Commons:

- Modules
- Assignments
- Quizzes
- Discussions
- Pages
- Documents
- Multimedia resources

… and even full courses!

Everything shared with the PSU community appears on the main PSU Commons page — but you can also open your search to all public resources across institutions and Canvas sites. You can search for keywords such as author, institution, or title. You can sort by latest, most relevant, or highest-rated resources. To customize your search, use the filter to show only specific types of activities, content types, or grade levels. Each resource type in search results has a unique color and icon augmenting its text label.

Examples of Commons Resources and Use Cases

Here are just a few examples of things you might find (or share) to improve your course:

A module with content and activities useful to others in your department and possibly even university-wide (example: Get Started with Your Research at the Portland State University Library)
A quiz you created with fellow instructors, for use as a common assessment (example: Midterm Exam - Spanish III)
A new type of assignment you would like to try, but aren’t sure how to set up (example: Self-Graded Lab Assignment)
A full course by another organization, with foundational elements you could adapt for your own course (example: AP Human Geography Full Year)

Importing Commons Resources into Your Course

Once you find a Commons resource you like, you can import it into your course.

How do I import and view a Commons resource in Canvas?

Most of what you find will be openly licensed, because most people upload to the Commons to share their work with others. However, it’s always a good idea to note the licensing information on the Resource Preview page.

If a resource is copyrighted, ask permission before using it in your own course. This can include images, text or other content created not only by another person, but also by you — if you have transferred copyright to a publisher.

Consider first creating an empty course to import the Commons resource into. Then you can review the content in detail, edit, and then move it into the course you will use with students.

Sharing Course Resources in Commons

You can share assignments, modules, quizzes, pages, discussions and entire courses to Commons.

How do I share a resource to Commons?

When sharing a resource to Commons, you’ll need to:

- Add details about the resource.
- Choose a sharing option.
- Select a content license.

The license you choose identifies how and to what extent others can reuse your original course content. A Creative Commons license allows you to share your content on your own terms. The benefit is that other instructors can use, build on, and improve your content. This creative collaboration can add value to your curriculum.

Note: The license you select for your resource in Commons is not tied to the license you set within Canvas course settings. Your course can be private in Canvas course settings, but public domain in Commons.

What types of content licenses are available in Commons?

You’ll also need to choose how widely to share the resource:

- Publicly... to share your expertise and course materials with anyone who searches Commons.
- Within the PSU community… to create consistent design and student experience across courses or your department.
- Privately… so you can have your own collection of learning objects to use and re-use anytime you design a course.

You may also belong to a group or consortium that shares resources with select people. For more information about sharing to custom Commons groups, contact OAI Support.